The Devil's Avenger
by Mockingjay Rose
Summary: Bermuda was born into the Estraneo Family, resulting in his inhuman appearance and enhanced senses. After Kawahira takes him in, he begins to open up, only to realise that hope and love inevitably leads to despair. A story of Bermuda's life as an experiment, child, Sky Arcobaleno and Vindice. Oneshot gift fic for WritingClockwork


**For WritingClockwork - Merry Belated Christmas!**

* * *

**THE DEVIL'S AVENGER**

Bermuda von Veckenschtein loses his home when he is fifteen.

He doesn't remember much about his childhood, as time has slowly erased his memories. But he knows they're there, hidden somewhere beyond the darkness of his mind. However, through the dark, there is no light. Only when he sees the physical remains of his past can he finally grasp onto the light's shadows. And then he can feel two emotions: loneliness and hunger.

He is lonely, because he is the only one hunting for his memories. There is no one to reach out to; no one who would be there to help him, as everyone he once knew was now reduced to bones and ashes. Also throughout the first fifteen years of Bermuda's life, there was always an awful sensation in his chest, as if a monster was growing inside him. The monster's hunger could never be satiated, and Bermuda has accepted that long ago.

Standing outside the ruins of the Estraneo laboratories, the black haired baby gazes at the ashes on the ground. He observes fragments of human bones disturbing the soil that held so many secrets. Closing his eyes, Bermuda hears the calm wind blowing at his top hat. He places a firm hand on it, takes a deep breath and waits for the memories to surface...

_Nothing_.

A nearby bird lands on his hat and pecks at his face. It must have thought he was a giant lizard, due to his facial appearance. Shaking his head vigorously, the baby sends the bird into a tree.

Bermuda sits down on the soil, hugging his knees to his chest. He is lonely. The monster inside is hungry.

_Loneliness...Hunger..._

...and suddenly he's the fifteen year old boy once again, limping out of the Estraneo Family's illegal facilities with a missing arm and leg. Even at his young age, his body has been emaciated from repetitive intrusive experimentation, but despite his physical and mental condition, he moves as fast as he can, his yellow eyes wide. Soon, he enters the surrounding forest. There, he is momentarily stunned, feeling lost for the first time.

He realises that he doesn't know where to go.

He decides to hide, noticing that his uninjured leg is at its limit. So for the next three days, Bermuda blends in with the green wonderland, surviving on wild birds and beasts. He allows himself to rest, although his lizard senses keep him from relaxing. As he sinks his teeth into raw animal flesh, he sees him arm and leg finally showing signs of regeneration.

They find him at dawn on the fourth day – or rather, a little blind girl does. She leads a pack of mutated humans with ripped flesh towards his tree and points at the camouflaged figure above. Her empty eye sockets are the result of a failed experiment, and the nerves below her torso have all died. She is being carried by one of the mutants, and one look at her hollow expression is enough to make Bermuda shiver.

The mutants lift the tree from the ground, snapping its roots. Bermuda doesn't want to know how the Estraneo has forced her to gain extraordinary sensing abilities. Clenching his fists, he calms himself down and silently plans another way to escape.

And a week later, right before the scientists perform vivisection on him without anaesthesia, the black haired boy breaks away from the facility once again. This time, he feels the presence inside him grow stronger and more violent.

He takes pleasure watching the Flames erupt from his hands and curl around the complex, dying the sky red. Strangely, the bursts of red, orange and yellow do not hurt him. A wide grin is plastered on his face and his eyes are gleaming. _More, more_! Black smoke fills the air, and the nearby forest is also set alight. Bermuda laughs and laughs, not caring that his Flames have spiralled out of control.

But inside, he is terrified – he is accustomed to watching others die slow, agonising deaths, but being capable of destroying a hundred lives at once reminds him just how _inhumane_ he is.

At that moment, he finally realises what the monster inside him has wanted all along: vengeance.

* * *

When he wakes, Bermuda thinks he is dead. Through his blurry vision, he sees a damaged ceiling with faded wallpaper. He half-heartedly wonders when it will collapse. But it is almost comical, discovering that Hell is much more comfortable than the living world. His back is lying on top of a soft mattress and the air smells like warm food. Slowly, he feels his body relax in this homely place.

He senses a spider scurrying beside his head. His hand shoots out to catch the black crawler and his teeth pierce through its body, before swallowing. The black haired boy licks his lips. Here, in Hell, he has food to eat. He won't starve again in the cold, white rooms and he won't have to sleep in cages anymore. Bermuda concludes that life and death are both very ironic.

When he hears a pair of feet sweep up the stairs, anxiousness seeps into his mind. He panics. Perhaps this welcoming Hell is an illusion, and he is waiting for scientists to remove his intestines without anaesthesia. Bermuda starts to struggle and tries to sit up, but a strong hand presses down against his belly.

"Lie back down. Your core has been damaged."

Bermuda sees an old man peering down at him through round spectacles. He has white hair and wears green traditional Japanese clothing. By instinct, the boy extends his regenerated hand and allows his Flames to envelop the old man. He won't allow anyone to touch him ever again.

Instead of burning, the old man absorbs Bermuda's flames into his body, much to the latter's surprise. His clothes do not burn either. Most of all, he does not counter-attack. "I found you lying amongst ashes," he says simply, "I assume you're responsible for the ruins."

Bermuda narrows his yellow eyes and attempts to ignite his Flames once again, but he manages nothing more than a dull glow. "Why were you there?" he asks quietly, wincing as exhaustion settles into his body, "I... I killed them all."

The old man takes his warning and steps back. "I sensed an extraordinary releasing of Dying Will Flames from where you were. Who would've known that the Estraneo Family was undergoing human experimentation?"

Bermuda tries to sit once again. "Where are we now?"

"We're in Japan. I prefer living here, as Japanese culture suits me better."

The boy rubs his eyes and blinks several times. He doesn't remember travelling half the world away from Italy. He doesn't have a passport either.

"Anyway," the old man continues, "I should introduce myself. My name is Kawahira. What is your name?"

"Bermuda."

"And your surname?"

"Why do you care?"

Kawahira waves his hands. "I was just being polite. The truth is I already know who you are." His eyes twinkle behind his spectacles with amusement. "_Bermuda von Veckenschtein_. It does make me wonder how the child of a German noble ended up with the Estraneo. But I also know the answer – your father had strong ties with the Family. You were kidnapped."

"Is that so?" Bermuda doesn't feel anything anymore – should he be angry? Sad? Scared? Taking a deep breath, he focuses on Kawahira with dead eyes. Then he asks the question that has bothered him since waking. "So where do I go from here?"

From the table beside him, Kawahira brings forth a bowl of ramen noodles. "Eat first. Then rest. You may stay here for as long as you wish. I can teach you many things. You can enjoy the simple pleasures of life like a normal child, without being judged."

"Why are you being so kind to me?"

"You're the strongest child I've ever met, Bermuda," Kawahira tells him. He extends his hand to the boy, "It would be a pleasure to see what other surprises you'll bring."

Bermuda hesitates. He is tempted to accept the old man's warmth, but he fears betrayal. However, with the thought that he can kill Kawahira anytime, he takes his hand.

* * *

Kawahira keeps his end of their promise. He gives Bermuda three meals a day, a bed to sleep on, and space to move. He teaches the boy how to read, write and speak many different languages, as well as the other subjects school students learn at his age. He also trains him to control his Sky Flames, until Bermuda can manipulate them at will. For the black haired boy, every day is a door leading to new surprises. He starts to live for the future, rather than living to survive the day.

Within one year since being taken under Kawahira's wing, Bermuda smiles for the first time. It hurts a little when his lips crack, but he eventually feels the monster inside him fade, as loneliness and hunger are replaced by new emotions: hope and love.

Over time, Bermuda's body also experiences several changes. He manages to grow a little taller, and muscles bulk from his arms, legs and chest from exercise and training. His face, however, retains its baby-like lizard appearance. Bermuda is disappointed that his body cannot mature like a normal person, but he decides to accept himself the way Kawahira had.

The old man continues to praise him, admiring his ability to learn new skills at twice the speed of a normal human. Bermuda begins to see him as a father, rather than a kind stranger who brought in stray dogs. He allows his painful childhood memories to fade, burying them under layers of comfort, knowledge and security. He finally feels genuine happiness after finding a place to belong.

And then the fated day finally arrives. When Bermuda is in his late twenties, the old man kneels down before him and asks whether he's ready.

"Ready?" Bermuda asks, "For what?"

Kawahira smiles at him kindly, the same smile he had given him through all those years. "To fulfil your duty to this world," he answers, "Now, show me your Sky Flame."

Confused, the shorter man obeys and allows a small ball of orange light to dance on his palm. "Like this?" He concentrates and the Flame changes shape. It turns into a lizard, a dragon and then a pulsing heart.

"Yes, my boy. I believe you're ready. Let me take you somewhere special today."

Bermuda nods and puts on his hat and cloak. Kawahira activates his Hell ring and the two teleport away. They don't need to exchange another word – the black haired man trusts his father figure with his life.

* * *

They arrive on top of a mountain, and when they do, they are not alone.

For the first time in years, Bermuda is at loss. His yellow eyes widen as he sees six figures sitting near a large rock, their voices in low murmurs. With his enhanced hearing, he realises that they were all summoned individually by a mysterious letter offering them something too good to pass by.

With an encouraging nudge from Kawahira, Bermuda walks towards them. They look startled at his non-human appearance but say nothing. Instead, they give him a nod of acknowledgement.

"I'm Jager," a tall man with curly black hair introduces, "Do you know that old man?"

"Yes. We arrived here together. I've lived with him for over ten years."

Jager laughs. "Who would've guessed?" He props his fist under his chin and gazes at the green trees below the mountain. "You know... to be honest, I have a bad feeling about this. As soon as I arrived, I had the feeling that we won't be able to leave this place as the same person."

"What do you mean?" Bermuda asks confusedly, "What are you implying?"

The other man shrugs and waves the question away, before standing. He walks towards Kawahira, who is setting a large canvas sack on the ground at the centre of the mountain top. "Excuse me," he says, "Were you the one who summoned us?"

The old man smiles at him. "Yes," he replies. The others join him, curious about the package he has set down. Within the sack, Bermuda sees seven glowing lights, one for each colour of the rainbow. Then Kawahira straightens up, and in a loud voice, addresses everyone present. "Thank you for coming here," he tells them, "From the look on your faces, I assume some of you know why you're here, and some of you don't."

Jager, Bermuda notices, has become rather pale. "Y-You can't be s-serious!" he stammers, taking a step back. "Everyone! This is a trap!"

The old man remains calm. "To minimise conflict, I believe we should get this over and done with as soon as possible. As some of you are aware, it is time for the current Arcobaleno to retire, and for a new generation of the world's strongest individuals to step forward and continue the balance of the Tri-ni-Sette."

Before Bermuda and Jager can demand answers, there is a brilliant flash as the glowing orbs suddenly break free from the sack. The world's strongest individuals are transfixed by both horror and wonder at the sight.

"I will now present to the world the new generation of Arcobaleno – Jager, Alejandro, Jacque, Pino, Gia, Gingerbread and Bermuda."

A pacifier latches onto Bermuda's chest and his body goes numb. He doesn't know what is going on. Kawahira has never told him about any of this. What is the Tri-ni-Sette? What are the Arcobaleno? The old man has always said that Bermuda is strong, but...

When the rainbow lights die down, he looks down and sees two tiny hands. In a moment of panic, his Sky Flames burst out, singeing the rocks. "Kawahira!" he shouts, "_Father_!"

The old man is nowhere to be seen.

Bermuda pushes himself up onto his now tiny feet, and freezes when the world has suddenly become large and threatening. He takes his first wobbly step, trying to fight away the monster stirring inside.

"He never told you anything, I suppose," Jager says. He joins Bermuda at the edge of the mountain and the two look down at the vastness below. "It doesn't make sense – you and Gingerbread are still so young." He points towards another baby trying to put on an oversized wizard hat.

"We're all babies now," Bermuda answers quietly, "But why?"

Jager stretches his arms and sighs. "These pacifiers – Sky, Storm, Sun, Lightning, Rain, Mist and Cloud – hold great power, but to prevent us from misusing it, that old man placed a curse on us."

"A curse."

"Yes, that's right. But as long as there isn't a large scale war, we are free to do as we wish in our new form. The others and I would like to find a cure. Will you join us?"

A part of him reaches out to the six men, as he has never had friends his age before, but Bermuda doesn't want them to interrupt his close bond with Kawahira. Consequently, he is the first to walk away, hating himself for wanting to question why his duty to the world involved him being turned into a baby.

But as he had come from the Estraneo Family, the curse doesn't affect him as much as the others. To calm himself down, he tells himself this is the last experiment he will have to endure, and remembers all the good things Kawahira had done for him over the past decade. He still trusts the old man, and reminds himself that his current state is only a small payment in return.

* * *

A few weeks later, Bermuda begins to lose hope.

It is a painstakingly long process that involves the breaking of the law, but he manages to travel all the way back to Japan. When he finally reaches Kawahira's house, however, he finds it empty. The ceilings have been fixed and new furniture has replaced the old, worn chairs and beds. Outside, there is a large notice telling passer-bys that the place is available for rent.

Bermuda moves back in anyway, using his Sky Flames for warmth and light. He leaves no trace of his presence and hides whenever the real estate agent brings in visitors. Life has become like a routine – he sleeps, he eats, he exercises. He misses the books Kawahira used to have piled upstairs. Soon, there are no more surprises and Bermuda wonders what he has to live for.

He tries to apply for a day job at a fast food joint, but his lack of I.D. results in his rejection. It also takes him one look to realise that the manager does not want a baby to serve customers. Without money and other necessary goods, Bermuda begins to return to his past life, surviving on insects and wild animals. He lives a silent life, not talking to anyone for years.

Sometimes he senses people following him. He wonders who they are.

Then one day, the black haired baby notices that his pacifier's orange light is fading. Immediately, Bermuda knows that his life will end soon. He decides to devote the rest of his life to researching about the Arcobaleno and their curse, but to little avail. He only discovers that they have existed for centuries, each generation eventually dying out and being replaced by the next. It shocks him that the past Arcobaleno simply died without any acknowledgement.

Bermuda doesn't want to die and be forgotten. He wants to meet Kawahira again, even for a brief moment, to tell the old man that he's alive.

As time goes by, he begins to forget what hope and love feel like. Frantically, he digs through his memories, holding onto anything to keep the monster inside dormant. But soon, he has dug everything out, leaving the hollow fifteen year old boy who had burnt down the Estraneo complex exposed and vulnerable.

He feels _lonely_. The monster inside is _hungry_.

Bermuda curls up into a ball and looks at the sky. It is black, without any stars and light. He wants it to consume everything, as the light has become too painful and unbearable. He struggles between light and darkness. He latches onto his bright orange Sky Flames that Kawahira helped him control – he will control the monster and find the cure to his curse.

But no, the monster argues, Kawahira has abandoned him. He doesn't care anymore. Bermuda is nothing more than an experiment to him. He has left him to the mercy of the Arcobaleno's curse.

The monster grows bigger.

"_I can teach you many things. You can enjoy the simple pleasures of life like a normal child, without being judged._"

In the end, Kawahira's words have turned empty. Bermuda is anything but normal.

The monster rubs its eyes and stretches.

"Bermuda!"

The black haired baby stops. "Jager?" he croaks, his unused vocal cords hoarse and thick.

The other baby nods, and makes a gesture with his hands. Suddenly, five other babies join them. "We've been following you for a while, observing you," Jager says, "There is something I forgot to mention when we met twenty years ago. I didn't think it was important back then, but now it's apparent – the Sky Arcobaleno is also cursed with a short lifespan."

"Is that so?" Bermuda replies. He snaps the wings off a bird and bites into the raw flesh, chewing it thoughtfully. "How do you know of this?"

Jager looks away. "My mother used to be the Storm Arcobaleno. He told me that her Boss didn't live past fifty."

"I'm almost fifty." It is almost hilarious to think he's survived that long, as his face has not aged a day. Stifling a humourless laugh, Bermuda draws out his pacifier from under his cloak. His yellow eyes turn dead when he sees that the colour has almost become clear. "I will die soon," he states. He clenches the pacifier until his knuckles are white, and he discovers that he is shaking. "I don't want to die. I can't die yet."

He has one regret.

"You're not the only one who feels that way," Alejandro says behind Jager, "We are all bitter."

The other six draw out their pacifiers, and Bermuda is stunned when he sees theirs in a similar condition. "You too?"

"Naive! Naive!" Gingerbread scoffs, crossing his arms, "They're connected! The pacifiers are all connected!"

"There are so many more people to slice and kill before I die," Small Gia adds regretfully, raising a large bloody axe.

"I still need to murder my parents," Big Pino agrees with a cracking of his knuckles.

"And that brings me to a theory I came up with," Jager explains, "The Arcobaleno pacifiers run on Dying Will Flames, and those are derived from hope and the need for survival. However, when we lose those emotions, the pacifiers begin to dull. If we channel a different emotion to emphasise our desire for survival, however, we might be able to change our Flames and consequently break the curse." His black eyes gleam, something Bermuda picks up with his enhanced vision. "We might be able to change it into something more terrifying."

Bermuda glances up at the sky. "Sorrow. Despair. Hatred. _Vengeance_. I wonder what the previous Arcobaleno thought when they were dying." He reaches out to the darkness and closes his eyes.

He doesn't want to die.

In that moment, there is a light much brighter than the one they witnessed when they turned into babies – this light is so blinding it consumes everything. Bermuda is no longer moving – bright Flames unleash from his body, setting their surroundings alight. The other six pacifiers also light up, flashing and pulsing...

...and then there is darkness. They see nothing but endless black. And Bermuda believes there is nothing more beautiful than this Flame of Night. He now has a purpose – to take his revenge for all the pain from his childhood to adulthood.

"We are the Vindice," he whispers to the sky, "We are the devil's avengers."

He places his hand on his chest and feels strong heartbeats throbbing with excitement. Finally, the monster inside him opens its eyes. It opens its mouth and roars into the night.

"_I will never forget you, father._"

It is a hundred years later, when Rokudo Mukuro comes into his life. The blue haired heterochromatic eyed boy is exactly what Bermuda had been a century ago – a perfect doll gone wrong, and perhaps that is what motivates the former Arcobaleno to intervene. From nearby, Bermuda watches the boy destroy everything in sight, a haunting expression on his face.

Bermuda knows all along that the Estraneo Family has been running its human experimentation again, but had decided to turn a blind eye on them. Part of him wishes for others to experience his pain and loss of humanity. But watching the blue haired boy lead the other victims through a massacre stirs a foreign emotion in his chest.

He draws the chains from under his cloak, extending them towards the boy like a hand. His Flame of Night suppresses the latter, freezing his brief look of terror. But Mukuro doesn't need to be scared as the two teleport to Vendicare through a black vortex:

In the inescapable prison, Bermuda will protect him from love and betrayal.

* * *

**Thank you for reading! I hope you liked this, WritingClockwork! **


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